THE MOTHER'S VOICE

Elaris's POV

I awaken to the sound of an empty corridor just before sunrise and realize Averic never returned to his chamber. The palace seems unusually busy for this time of the day with guards taking up new posts and servants bringing reports to the council chamber. Neryss informed me that the Alpha has been with Maevra since before dawn.

I find myself wondering if he is attempting to convince his mother to refuse or simply sitting beside her due to realizing what she intends to do.

When Averic finally returns he looks as though he has spent the entire night fighting a battle that no warrior could see. He informs me that Maevra is awake and lucid but her strength has failed her again.

"She asked for water three times before she asked what hour the hearing begins," he tells me.

I ask what he told her.

"The truth."

His response is enough for me to understand his thoughts and feelings on what Maeva intends to do.

Averic has already been informed that Maevra refused every effort to keep her away from the hearing as he reminds me by stating she still needs the rest, for even speaking for a short time can be exhausting for her during her recovery from the poisoning.

"She knows that," he says. “She doesn’t care.”

I ask him if he tried to stop her.

"For the most part."

A small smile crosses his lips at the memory of his mother easily defeating his argument without having to raise her voice.

"She told me if I locked her in her chamber to protect her I would be doing exactly what the people outside will speak of if they are not given the opportunity see her answer their accusations."

That statement is one that has been replayed to me over and over

Maevra has decided that weakness will not be something for which she lets others define her truth.

Averic finally admits that she has overruled him.

"She is still my mother," he says as he studies me before adding softly, "but this morning she reminded me she is also the Luna."

I ask if she can survive the hearing.

"I don't know."

It was the first answer that frightened me.

I ask Averic to allow me to see her before the council arrives.

"You need to preserve your strength as well."

"I will not ask to speak about the past. I only want to see her."

He studies me for a long moment before agreeing but with a few restrictions. Two healers will always be nearby and two warriors will be stationed at the entrance to her chamber and I am only allowed a short visit before leaving in case Maevra's strength falters.

I agree to all terms.

As we walk to her chamber Averic reminds me not to press Maevra about anything she has not volunteered.

"She has made her decision," he says. "Do not make her waste what little strength she has left convincing either of us.

I am surprised that he warns me but find himself more ready to listen than ever as I have no need to ask his counsel for I am more prepared to hear the truth from her voice.

Maevra is propped against several pillows when Averic and I enter her chamber. She looks smaller than she did only days ago but there is still a certain authority present in the way she carries herself.

The moment her eyes take note of me she reaches for my hand.

I take hers and am surprised by the strength of her grasp.

Her eyes linger briefly on my stomach before returning to my face.

"I know," she murmurs.

I swallow with an unsteady throat. "Know what?"

"That the child is yours."

The words catch me off guard.

"Your child. His blood. My blood."

Her certainty is not due to a healer's report but she has watched my Averic and observed me and realized the changes happening within her own home.

I ask if she is afraid of what the council will do.

"No."

She says the words instantly.

"I am afraid of what they will do if nobody tells them the truth."

She tells me of the nights when her medicine changed and which cups tasted wrong and which servants refused to visit her afterwords and which people arrived and then left her chamber.

Then she lifts my hand slightly.

"Do not go into that hall asking them to pity you."

I promise not to.

"Do not beg them to believe you either."

Her hand grips mine tighter.

"Stand there. Let them look at you. Let them hear you."

Her words felt less like advice and more like something passed from one to the other woman.

Maevra's breathing becomes unsteady before I can voice any other questions.

One of the healers immediately approaches her.

Averic appears in the doorway and knows it is already time for us to leave by her expression.

I release her hand reluctantly.

She captures my fingers once more before I can come to my feet.

"Elaris."

I lean closer to listen.

"Whatever happens in there, don't let them make you ashamed of carrying his child."

My throat tightens.

"I won't."

She gives the hint of a nod.

Averic leads me out of the room before her condition worsens.

Neither of are willing to speak on our way back.

The silence between us is not empty and I can still feel Maevra's hand in mine.

For months my pregnancy has been kept hidden behind locked doors and careful words and guarded looks but now Maevra has stated her claim without hesitation or doubt.

Not as a secret.

Not as an inconvenience.

As family.

When we arrive at my chamber Averic says, "She meant every word."

"I know," I tell him.

He looks towards the door we just left behind. "So do I."

The remaining hours consume me with preparation.

A palace attendant brings me the clothing that has been chosen for the hearing. Another reviews the instructions provided by the council. I am told exactly where I am to stand and when I may speak and how the council will address me.

I listen carefully.

I am not allowed to interrupt.

I am not supposed to accuse Virelle unless specifically asked about an accusation.

I am not supposed to make Maevra's condition an argument to gain sympathy.

Most importantly I am told not to use my pregnancy as a threat against anyone.

That instruction almost makes me laugh.

As if I would need to.

The child inside me is already the reason every powerful person occupying that hall will have to measure my every word.

Averic enters halfway through my preparations and repeats the final instruction himself.

"Don't let them bait you."

"I won't."

"If someone insults you, answer the question they asked. Nothing more."

"And if they ask something they already know the answer to?"

"Then make them hear it from you."

I realize he is no longer preparing me to defend myself but preparing me to survive a political examination.

Averic lays out the evidence on his study table one last time.

The four broken-chain clasps are secured separately and the medicine reports are arranged beside the palace access records. The written confession from the missing attendant is kept inside a sealed folder with the report concerning her current condition on top.

I notice something missing.

"Where is the statement from the attendant?"

"Separate."

" Why?"

"Because if I present everything before them at once, Sennik can argue that the strongest evidence relies upon a witness who cannot presently confirm it."

The physical threats first.

The altered medicine next.

The palace access records after that.

Then Maevra's account.

The confession will come only if the council attempts to reduce everything as rivalry between Virelle and me.

I ask if he expects them to do that.

"I expect them to look for the easiest explanation."

"And if the easiest explanation is me?"

He pauses before answering. "Then they will have to explain why someone went to such lengths to threaten you.

That distinction matters.

He isn't promising victory but building a sequence they will have difficulty dismissing without answering each part.

Neryss arrives with my gown.

It is deliberately plain with no elaboration embroidery or jewelry and my hair is braided simply to leave nothing that might be said to compete with Virelle.

Neryss works while I watch myself in the mirror.

It is not the same woman that entered the doors of Averic's palace half-dead and convinced that she had no remaining destination left to find herself.

But I am not completely sure about who I have become either.

Neryss finishes the braid and steps away. "You look..."

She stops. "Like what?"

"Like someone who won't let them frighten her."

I almost tell her that she is wrong. I am frightened. I am terrified that Maevra will collapse before she manages to speak and terrified of what the council might decide and terrified that Averic's caution will become another wall between us but fear does not mean surrender.

I turn from the mirror. "Then let them think I'm not afraid."

Neryss nods. This time neither of us says anything else.

The summons arrives at the appointed hour and a council messenger reads the order from the hall with a formal voice before stepping aside. Averic comes for me himself and four Warriors take up their positions around us leaving enough room that I can walk without being overcome. Still, every individual we passed appears to understand exactly what it means.

The hearing is not a private conversation.

It is a public reckoning.

We proceed through the familiar corridors that have become my prison over the last weeks but today the doors are open and servants stop working as we pass and warriors straighten and some look at me with sympathy while others do not and nobody speaks.

I kept walking through them.

Averic remains beside me but does not reach for my hand. Perhaps because he knows I will need to enter that room alone.

As we near the great hall, I hear the gathered voices just beyond the doorway and the sound grows louder with each step until the great doors open and the hall is revealed. It is already packed with members of the council occupying the raised seats and senior warriors standing to the side and household staff lining the walls.

And Virelle is already waiting.

She sits in the prepared seat designed for a woman whose pregnancy has been acknowledged and her clothes are elegant but simple and one hand rests naturally over her stomach.

She looks perfectly composed.

She does not even look in my direction upon entering.

That almost unsettles me more than an outright insult would have.

I remember how easily she can play innocence when an audience watches.

Averic enters beside me.

The reaction of the room is instantly different.

Talk is halted as every person realizes what the two women are here to examine.

Two pregnancies.

One Alpha.

One council.

And more questions than anyone in this hall can safely answer.

Averic leads me to the designated place.

It was not beside him.

The spot is several steps away with guards stationed on either side to point out who is watching me. No one can claim I was granted power over the hearing simply because I remained under the Alpha's protection house but I am not hidden either.

I remain visible to every member of the council.

Virelle finally lifts her gaze.

Our eyes meet across the length of the hall and she gives me the barest hint of a smile.

Not friendly. Not openly hostile. A warning disguised as courtesy.

I don't reply.

Instead, I straighten and keep my hands where the council can see them.

Averic takes the place assigned to him.

For one brief instant, I notice Maevra's empty chair among the places intended for the royal family.

She should have been here already.

But she is still preparing to arrive.

Then Lord Sennik rises. The room stills.

Lord Sennik begins his statements to open the hearing by identifying the concerns that have brought this gathering into session: the dispute over Virelle's confinement, the assault in the main hall, the dangerous substances discovered within the palace, Maevra's altered medicines, and the competing pregnancy claims connected it her claim as the Alpha.

He is clear that it will not be treated as a dispute between the two women in general.

All allegations will be investigated.

Every witness examined.

Every pregnancy placed on record.

Then Lord Sennik pauses.

He looks from Virelle to me. "There is one matter the council will address before testimony begins."

Virelle's stance becomes more rigid.

"There is something the council will look at first," Sennik states. "Both women have claimed to carry the Alpha's child. The council therefore requires both pregnancies to undergo formal essence examination at the next blood moon."

A murmur filters through the hall. Sennik raised one hand and the room grew quiet. "The examination will determine if the children carry Alpha Averic Thorne's essence and if the claims made before this council are legitimate."

My stomach twists.

Not from fear alone but something inside reacted to the word essence.

Averic turns to look at me.

For the first time since we were both led into the hall, his composure shattered.

Virelle's fingers grip her stomach.

Then Sennik delivers the part no one anticipated. "If either woman refuses the examination, the council will consider that refusal when determining the legitimacy of her claim and the protections afforded to her child."

The room is utterly attentive.

There is no hiding now.

No private explanation.

No locked chamber where the truth can be kept until another day is available to wait.

Virelle slowly lifts her chin. "I have nothing to hide."

Her statement draws immediate attention.

Then every gaze moves to me.

Averic says my name quietly. "Elaris."

I look at him. He does not tell me what to say. He can't for it is the first time the answer has to belong solely to me.

And somewhere beyond the hall doors I hear hurried footsteps approaching.

Maevra has not yet arrived but the council is awaiting her voice.